| An Integrated, Homemade, Portable Salt/Mineral Feeder and External Parasite Control Cattle Rub Tool |
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• Salt, Mineral, and Ionophore Nutrition
• Fly, Lice, Grub, and Tick Control
• Rotational Grazing Forage Management
• Grazing Livestock Management
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgement
Introduction
Summary
History
Research
General Characteristics
Some Cattle Benefits
Economics
Limitations
The Feeder and Cattle Rub Management
Salt, Mineral, and Ionophore Feeder
Cattle Rub
Fly Prevention and Control
Lice Prevention
Grub Prevention
Tick Prevention
Within All Functions
Pasture Management Uses
Insecticides for Cattle Rubs and Dust Bags
Materials and Construction Parameters
Schematic Diagram
Accessories
Other Successful Models
Forced Use of the Cattle Rub
Commercial Equipment
One Final Comment
References
Literature Cited
Rotational stocking and the management of grazing livestock can range from very basic — even incorrect and deficient — to very precise and totally correct. The desire to be correct in overall management, including the interfacing of management of forage-livestock-human resources and finance management lead to the development and multiple uses of the tool written about herein.
Some readers may think this extensive writing on such a simple-looking device is overdone. Bear in mind, however, that the tool is actually very dynamic and its total success in all the interfacing mentioned above depends on the proper construction and management of all aspects of the tool. Total success with the tool depends on using it properly and on other possible intuitive and inventive uses of the tool by the individual grazier.
This publication is primarily for the "do-it-yourself" grazier. Photographs are used to depict the tool and its uses, to make it easier to grasp and to provide examples for construction. Some important points are repeated to be sure they are read and understood.
AcknowledgementsCredit is given to the different Noble Foundation administrations over time for allowing the author and co-workers to develop the tool models, experience their numerous uses and publish this bulletin. The ultimate purpose was to help the practicing grazier, whether private operators, demonstrators or researchers. The initial work was done on the Controlled Rotational Grazing Unit, but some form of the tool was ultimately used on all Foundation farms and many private operations. Special recognition is due co-workers who were an integral part of the early work with the tool. They include Doug Grounds, Wayne Dobbs, Bret Flatt, Robert Carpenter, Russ Gentry, Devlon Ford, Jerry Rogers and Shan Ingram. Special acknowledgment is given to Lawrence McTague, DVM, and Gary Woulfe, DVM, for their advice on animal health aspects of the tool.
The author thanks Foundation reviewers Russell Stevens and Evan Whitley for their valuable critique and also thanks the personnel of the Foundation's Communications Department for assistance in making the publication real. A special thank-you goes to Broderick Stearns for photographic work, to Paul Horton for the diagram and layout design, to Tabby Campbell for word processing and to Caroline Lara for editing.
To those of us whose life's work is trying to help those in production agriculture, it is incredibly gratifying to have producers take our information, adapt it and use it to good benefit on their own space. Numerous graziers in the eastern half of the United States have made their own tool based on our information and used them in their own grazing units. That is a reward to our efforts, and we say "thanks."
IntroductionThe homemade, portable, salt/mineral feeder and external parasite control cattle rub tool (hereafter called "the tool") appears to be a simple piece of machinery. It is, but the specific physical form and multiple uses of the tool make it complex. The tool was initially developed and used as an alternative to more expensive and problematic means of fly and lice control on beef cattle. It quickly became a multi-use grazing cattle management and pasture management tool in rotational stocking.
Little has been written about the use of the cattle rub portion for parasite control, and only a small amount has been written on some model of the tool (Dalrymple, 1999a, 1999b; Gentry, 2001). Graziers, in general, adapt only the cattle rub technique without much study. Most use it in a stationary or permanent manner. That is not the emphasis in this publication. The portability of the complete tool is an integral part of it because of the interest in rotational stocking. Rotational stocking goes along with the tool and vice versa.
The objective of this publication is to report on details of homemade construction and management of these portable tools.
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